Cronkite, the Speed Racer

By JERRY GARRETT

Published: July 26, 2009

We were watching old racing movies -- this was many years ago -- and I spied Mr. Cronkite in a segment of an old Indianapolis 500 race.

''Cronkite came to the Indianapolis 500 many times,'' recalled Mr. Davidson, who is the historian for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's museum. ''Usually he was the guest of team owner Lindsey Hopkins. Not many people know that in the 1950s Cronkite was an aspiring race driver and was apparently quite talented.''

Records are sketchy from this era, for those sleuthing to learn how many races Mr. Cronkite might have started, how he finished or what he drove. But there are bits and pieces.

He apparently raced at the now-closed Bridgehampton Raceway on Long Island, at Lime Rock in Connecticut and Watkins Glen in upstate New York.

Mr. Cronkite drove several times in the Little Le Mans endurance races in the late 1950s at Lime Rock, in a Volvo PV444. He once finished as high as third over all; he took home the winner's trophy, however, for coming in first in his class.

''He drove in the 12 Hours of Sebring once, 1959, I believe, and he filed radio reports for CBS between shifts,'' Mr. Davidson said in an e-mail exchange.

Indeed, Mr. Cronkite is listed as driving a Lancia Appia Zagato with two other drivers in the 1959 Sebring classic; they finished fifth in their class and 40th over all. JERRY GARRETT